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Im shocked it ended this quickly, all too soon. An excellent AAR I must say, so what IS the next endeavor you will take?

Changing one's stAARs- A Brazil AARFan of the Week 7/17/06-7/24/06The Constitution only gives people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself. -Benjamin FranklinIt has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried. -Winston ChurchillCourage is doing what you are afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you are scared. -Edward V. Rickenbacker

Far-call'd our navies melt away—
On dune and headland sinks the fire—
Lo, all our pomp of yesterday
Is one with Nineveh and Tyre! - Rudyard Kipling, Recessional

The reign of Carles III (1809-1831) was the apotheosis of the Aragonese Empire. All of Indo-China was secured, the Indian frontier pushed to the Himalayas, Egypt reduced to vassaldom and an attempt to settle New Zealand was made. Trade, art and industry boomed. Yet despite its sense of glittering majesty and apparent power the Crown of Aragon was resting on far from secure foundations. The tremors of the 19th century would bring the whole facade crumbling to the ground.

In 1828 Ignasi Vallarroya, the then Treasurer had proposed digging a canal to the West of the Sinai Peninsula. The project drew vast amounts of investment, particularly from the East India Company, but very soon alarming problems began to emerge. The initial estimate of the cost and time needed had proven wildly optimistic. Worse an embezellment scandal broke in 1833 implicating Vallarroya and badly tainting the reputation of the canal company. Despite this progress was being made when, in 1840 the puppet ruler Aragon had placed on the throne was murdered and replaced by his brother. Preoccupied in the Italian War (see below) Carles IV was unable to send more than a token force to Egypt. By August 1842 the one-third completed canal had to be abandoned. It was a disaster for Aragon - thousands of shares were lost and the East India Company itself was driven to verge of bankruptcy. Aragon when into a massive financial slump.

The reason that the Egyptian situation became so serious was a situation that had been threatening to explode during the early years of Carles IV (1831-1846): Italian nationalism. Already in the 1820's Lombard intellectuals, driven by Enlightenment idealism and a romantic view of their old republicanism had begun to chafe under Aragonese control. In the 1830's their view spread. To the rallying cry of an independent Italian Republic the flag of revolt was raised in Genoa in March 1839.

It was descision of Austria, France and (most woundingly) Naples to become involved that turned a local revolt into a deadly war for Aragonese survival. The Italian War of 1839 to 1845 (in fact several smaller wars grouped under one banner) saw Aragonese control broken in, first Northern Italy (1839-41), Sicily (1842), Malta (also 1842) and Tripoli (1843). Carles IV had haughtily neglected European alliances: now he could only watch as the superior numbers of the coalition robbed him of his Mediterranean possessions. The Peace of Nice in 1845 saw Aragon left with only the Balerics in the Mediterranean.

Though a disastrous blow to prestige the loss of Italy and North Africa was by no means fatal - except to Carles IV who was so disgraced he abdicated in favour of his son Alfons, an intelligent, witty young man who took the throne as Carles V. In fact the same year as the Peace of Nice saw the Aragonese Empire expand in Asia, with the conquest of Borneo. Something of a recovery was indeed made in the late 40's. The economy recovered slightly, slavery was abolished (despite some vehement objections) and tentative alliances were made with the old friends Britain and Lithuania.

Yet Italy was not the only place nationalism was building tensions, as the 1850's would prove.

Thanks for a most entertaining AAR, your focus on developing the storyline around the game events made it quite enjoyable.

I've just bought the game myself, after following your AAR and Renns' Milan AAR, and hope to undertake my own mission now. I've played many RTS games, and created storyline scenarios for them for my own enjoyment, I hope to do the same with this fine game title.

I swayed upon the gaudy stern
The butt-end of a steering-oar,
And saw wherever I could turn
A crown upon the shore. -W. B. Yeats, His Dream

The ending of the slave trade had bitterly divided opinion in the Aragonese Empire. While popular in Portugal and Aragon themselves it was detested in the Americas (who bought most of the slaves) and in Benin (which supplied most of them). Interestingly South Africa did not object, but then that colony - or rather, at this point, dominion, a measure of self goverment having being secured in the 1830's - was rich from the India trade and it's own mineral wealth. South Africa was also the most ethnically diverse part of the Empire - heavy immigration from Europe and Aragonese India had meant that by 1850 the largest ethnic group was of mixed race descent.

From Tierra del Fuego to Cuba bitter recriminations flowed in. The America's were overtaxed and underappreciated, lacking the self goverment of South Africa and the sheer wealth of India. The release of hundreds of thousands of slaves had caused an economic collapse - and bitter feuding amongst the creoles, the mestizos, the Inca and other Indians and the freed former slaves. To their credit the Aragonese tried to make peace in South America, sending over honest and often able viceroys but they were swimming against the tide. When in 1852 the citizens of Cuzco burnt down the governors palace and proclaimed the Republic of Peru it was as if a damn had burst. A continent slid into open revolt.

Aragon proper, the Catalonian Iberian country had never had an especially large population. This had not mattered so much in the 18th century when most of the wars had been fought in Asia by Sepoys; in 19th century America with only her own strength and those Loyalists willing to take up arms Aragon had no strength. By 1859 the war was essentially over and Carles V, the wry, intellectual King had no choice but to abandon his American possesions - save loyal Cuba which had sided early with the crown. Thousands of mostly black soldiers who had bravely fought for King and Country were resettled there.

The decline of Empire abroad had coincided with the growth of a new phenomenon similar to what had already been seen in Italy and was being seen in Germany: Pan-Iberianism. This nationalistic idealogy, most popular in Castile but felt elsewhere stated that all the divided Iberians - the Aragonese, Portugese, Castilians and Narravese where one people. It was popular amongst the middle classes of Lisbon and Barcelona, who, locked out of power by their own absolute King looked with envy on the more liberal Castilian system. In 1860, with Aragonese fortunes at low ebb the Castilians made their move and attacked.

In Aragon proper, after heavy fighting the Castilians were held, just. In Potugal it was very different: here Pan-Iberianism was seen as liberation by many. Lisbon fell without a fight - to cheering crowds no less. Badly shaken, and seeing signs of Pan-Iberianism in the streets of Barcelona, Carles V sought terms.

The Castilians proposed a new federal Empire of Iberia, with the King of Castile as Emperor. The other Kingdoms would retain their thrones - though Portugal was to gain one of its own, a cadet branch of the Plantagenants. he old Aragonese Empire would pass to Iberia. When even his own cortes told him that the people might fight to stop his throne being abolished, but not to keep out their Iberian brothers Carles V sadly assented. He died not long afterwards, the last of the independent Kings of Aragon.

There was in India a certain Prince of Aragon, a third son of old King Carles, who upon hearing of the creation of Iberia called a council of Indian princes in Bombay. These men cared nothing for Pan-Iberianism (what was a Castilian to them?) but they were commited Catholics, albeit of a sort looked at suspicously in Rome. And they were loyal to their king, especially when he graciously accepted to wearing Indian dress and marrying an Indian princess, the beautiful Rashmi. And thus on 23 August 1863 Prince Alfons Plantagenet became Alfons I, Emperor of India.

The old Aragonese Empire was gone, but it had left many inheritors. The Catalan speaking republics of South America, South Africa and Australia. The spread of Catholicism in three continents.

Then of course there is it's greatest legacy - the Empire of India, stretching from the Indian Ocean to the South China Sea and the worlds only true superpower. Of course these days it is a constitutional monarchy, but there is no real sentiment of republicanism amongst the people (which can not be said in Madrid!). Alfons V is widely loved and respected and the Imperial Family has deftly avoided the scandals that plague less happy crowns. The future looks bright for the family that once ruled the Aragonese throne but, ah, that is another story.

Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God.-Isa 41:10For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.-John 3:16
-------------------------------My machine specs: i7 2600 @ 3.4 GHz, 16 GB DDR3 RAM, Radeon HD6870 with 1 GB RAM, Windows 7 64-bit
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My new AAR: Norgesveldet - A history of the Norwegian kings

three cheers - and a masteful epilogue. Very well done indeed! Another jewel to your AAR-land diadem!

To view is human, to comment is divine.
"Be not afraid" - John Paul II
"The Christian way has not been tried and found wanting, it has been found to be hard and left untried" - GK Chesterton.
Current AAR: Stories of King Sean CK2 4.1
Completed AAR: In Memory of France EU2
View my full AAR list at The InkwellMy library and My blog
Ask not what AARland can do for you, but what you can do for AARland.